Giano“Giano is he that reigns and governs all things and it is he that brought all things together, enclosing within the sky the essense of water and earth, fire and air. And it was the great strength of the sky that united them and bound these opposing forces.”

Giano (Englis: Janus, Latin: Ianus) is one of the most important Latin gods, and the most ancient of the Roman origin gods. Ancient agricultural cults led to a rising importance of this divinity in the area near Cingoli, in fact there are several towns and places near our farm named after Giano, including Troviggiano, Occhigiano, Piangiano and now Costa Digiano.

He is often referred to as the father of all the other gods. He is the god of beginnings, both material and immaterial and the lord of time. His cult is likely very ancient and dates to an archaic time when the people of the Italian peninsula were still connected to the natural cycles of nature and agriculture. Some evidense has shown a connection to a similar Celtic god, responsible for the changing seasons and the fertility of the earth.

He has been known by the name Cerus “Creator” and the Console Marco Valerio Messalla Rufo wrote: “Giano is he that reigns and governs all things and it is he that brought all things together, enclosing within the sky the essense of water and earth, fire and air. And it was the great strength of the sky that united them and bound these opposing forces.”

Settimio Sereno calls Giano “the beginning of the gods and astute cultivator of all things”Giano overlooks all beginnings and all passages, he guards the entrances to houses, passages, archways as well as the beginning of new enterprises, of human life, of history, of religion, of the gods themselves, of the world, of humanity, of civilization.